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Ethnicity and Fertility: Implications for Population Programs in Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2012

Remi Clignet  and
Joyce A. Sween
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Extract

Whether public policies concerning family planning involve legislative or educational programs, their impact depends upon an analysis of patterns of family formation. But to merely identify the direction and the magnitude of overall aggregate trends in this regard is insufficient. While programs of family planning aim at satisfying the requirements of a national and hence uniform policy, their success depends upon a problematic lack of variability in the relevant behaviours across the various social and ethnic groups located within a particular nation. Accordingly the thrust of the present paper is not only to identify the determinants of child-bearing activities, but also to assess the variability of these determinants along ethnic lines.

Résumé

L'ETHNICITÉ ET LA FERTILITÉ: CONSÉQUENCES POUR LA PLANIFICATION DÉMOGRAPHIQUE EN AFRIQUE

Le présent article cherche à démontrer que si les variations de fécondité reflètent l'importance relative attachée à la quantité et à la qualité des enfants souhaités par les femmes et leurs conjoints, cette importance n'est pas définie de la même manière au sein de divers groupes ethniques africains. Portant sur le recensement de l'Ouest Cameroun (1964), l'analyse soulignel'importance des variations inter-ethniques tant dans la moyenne que dans la variance de la distribution des fécondités totales et courantes des femmes de la classe d'âge 21–25 ans, originaires de divers groupes ethniques de l'Ouest Cameroun. De plus, il existe des variations inter-ethniques significatives dans le pourcentage des variances expliquées comme dans la nature et l'importance des variables individuelles et contextuelles contribuant aux équations correspondantes. Dans la mesure où ces contrastes peuvent être expliqués aussi bien en termes de différences réelles d'attitudes et de comportements qu'en termes de biais ethnocentriques présents dans tout recensement, l'analyse débouche sur deux conclusions distinctes. D'une part, une politique nationale de planning familial n'est possible qu'au terme d'une politique sociale et économique d'intégration des divers groupes ethniques locaux. D'autre part, une analyse de la fécondité en milieu africain demande une identification plus précise des éléments culturellement spécifiques entrant dans la définition de la 'quantite’ et de la ‘qualité’ des enfants souhaités par les individus.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 48 , Issue 1 , January 1978 , pp. 47 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1978

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